Remembering Why We're Here

 Today I am looking over the posts since I created this blog years ago and suddenly I remember why I'm here, it's for the peace.  The peace I feel in nature, in creating, in being mostly self sufficient.

I reread the Mission Statement and am adding it here to remind us what life is really about:

Work ~ Love ~ Live - Simply

In a world of electronics and entertainment and an ever present message to succeed, we are left with no time to decompress, to enjoy the simple things, like resting, or thinking, clearly anyway.  There's a cyberspace full of information available to us 24/7, with no end in sight.  We are becoming more like drones everyday.

So this blog, while mostly about the projects I do myself on the property and on the old retro mobile, is also about living simply, with less.  Less doesn't have to mean lack, it can also mean more - more time, more rest, more enjoyment!

I have found myself a life of fulfillment.  I am self employed, I work less than 30 hours a week and support myself.  How do I do it?  I live with less, spend less, and have more.  More time, more joy, more freedom.

You just have to figure out what it is you want, and go for that.  But it has to feel good and it has to come from you.  Only you know what is best for you.  For me it is more time in nature, more time creating, more time alone.

Nature Wakes

At last sweet nature is waking up!
This lilac tree is one of my first to show her buds.

The day lilies began popping up weeks ago.  I always worry it will snow again and crush them, but they're pretty hardy and usually recover.

These daffodils are about eight inches tall and have only begun blooming just last year after years of only coming to this stage.  Odd.  But it could be my elevation, dafs have just never done very well here.

I'm not big on domestic flowers, as you can tell by my very modest surroundings.  I mostly enjoy the natural and wild things.

This year I decided to clear out behind the wood shed, open up that area and use the back for garden tool storage.

I also bought a new garden cart without air type wheels or too much metal!  They always rust and the tires go first.  So back to basics with this Smart Cart from Ace Hardware.

I also purchased a shelf type portable greenhouse and a contained composter!!

These are temporarily in the back of the house.
This composting unit has allowed me to finally do what I've wanted for years, eliminate the open compost in the yard.  It was always just too inviting to uninvited wildlife!  This unit is small, about 30 gallons, so it will take a little more work but worth it.  It easily turns in place for faster breakdown.

I am working on an enclosed area out front for a small vegetable garden.  It's already fenced and the containers are picked out for the plants.  Photos as it progresses.

What are you working on this month?

New Babies

I love this time of Spring when new baby wildlife start appearing from the brush.
This week two song sparrow fledglings have joined the world.

May Flowers

It is true that April showers bring May flowers, but I think in our case this year it was many months of showers!  Finally the sun has come out for more than a few hours and things are drying out and blooming.  Life!

Mountain Quail

These little cuties are new to my area, only seen in the last couple of years. 
Easily confused with the California Quail, but if you look at side by side photos, the differences are many.  These are bigger, like the size of a football, much more colorful and their topnotch is more of an apostrophe shape.  The CA Quail's topnotch curves over the top of their head.

This year I have only three or four.  Last year I had about twelve.  I imagine they are a tasty treat for cougars, bobcats and coyotes, which we didn't have last year, but have been seen this year.

I enjoy watching these sweeties roaming about the yard, driveway and bird feeding area, just about any time of day.

I'll try to get better photos, but they are quite skiddish, so I have to shoot from inside the house.

Winter Wren

Winter Wren has returned.  He shows up every year about this time.  He makes himself known by flying up to me, jumping around and making cute little peeping sounds.  I'm not sure exactly what this behavior is, but I'd like to think he is just letting me know he has returned and is happy to be here.

I keep a year round supply of fresh water for all the birds and my lush, mostly untouched habitat is perfect for foraging and nesting.

He will stay throughout the winter and then head off to wherever he goes for Spring and Summer.

Summer vistors

Over the Spring, Summer and early Fall I have had a few fun little visitors.  I always have birds at the feeders and an occasional deer, coyote or raccoon, but this year I had a visit from a Jack Rabbit, only one day off from last years Jack Rabbit visit, according to my wildlife tracking calendar.

What a cutie!!  He only hung out for a day, but it was fun to watch him frolick around and enjoy the local fare.

Over the Spring months I was visited often by a Sharp-shinned Hawk.  Probably a female as she was large.  We crossed paths on several occasions, quite literally, as she dove in for a meal, and often missed.  I felt bad for her, but I do so love my other birds.

One day she missed getting a chipmunk and landed on my old spool table, giving me just enough time to capture this shot.

Deer and raccoons came by all through the months too.

I also had the pleasure of getting this shot of two goldfinch fledglings on their first day out, although shot through the kitchen window.

Nature Walks and Family Visits

Time flies when you're having fun, doesn't it?  I apologize for the absence here on NPD, but I'm not sure where the time went!  I have been creating, visiting with family and friends, and enjoying a milder than usual Fall here in my part of the PNW.

I built that table just in time for company!  My brother came out for an early Thanksgiving in mid November, and we had a great time catching up, touring the area, and I got my crash course in "iPad".

Our first full day together we ventured out into the woods via the trails behind my house.  It was a little rainy, but not too cold.  We walked and walked, spotting mushrooms and little picturesque openings in the trees.  All of the plant life looked as if it had been carefully placed there in perfect order.

Later the sun came out through the fog and our walk back was even more picturesque!

I especially like this photo he took of me walking down the path.

I saw this interesting old stump that has been eaten away by woodpeckers and weather over the years, eventually forming into an amazing natural abstract sculpture.

It was a great time and a long awaited reunion.  Now all but one sibling has visited the NP pad.
I am so glad I have this blissful area to share.

Pileated Woodpecker

 

I see these majestic birds from time to time here.  They are quite agile and fast for a bird their size, darting in and out of the trees, they look like a space ship or some other animated creature!

This Pileated Woodpecker has been a frequent visitor to the many dead trees and stumps around my place this summer.  I finally got a chance to get a few photos of him, but he moves so quickly it is hard to focus on him.

Then he's off again.

I was fortunate enough to get a very brief  (only 14 seconds!) video of him in this area of my yard.  The photos of him on the trees were too blurry as the point and shoot couldn't keep up with his quick moving head and body.

So here's the video:

Enjoy!!

Refresher Course

I love learning new things!  I also love returning to refresh my mind and skills at things I haven't done in a while.  

Recently I took an online course in Nature Photography.  I know, you wonder why someone with a college degree and years of experience in photography even needs to do this.  Well, it's fun, for one thing.  I love the classroom environment - in this case the virtual classroom.  The students are always interesting and eager to learn, curious and open minded.

The course was challenging and I learned new skills with my digital camera.  I admit, there are just some things about digital photography that have eluded me until now.  When I was in school it was all film!

So this was great fun and a great step to better understanding.

One of the things I most loved about my early photography education was the challenge of light and time.  With a little time exposure and the right aperture, you could make water look like this.  That was one of our assignments in this class.  I have to say that I haven't really experimented that much with my manual settings on this camera, but with a tripod and using the timer it worked out!

We were also asked to find something abstract in nature.  It's not as easy as you'd think!  I am attracted to abstract patterns everywhere, but they are usually buildings, rocks, and fabrics, to name a few.  So for this assignment I chose this log.  I was surprised by the perfection of circles here and how it blended so easily with the cross lines from the saw.

This one I used in my previous post.  We were supposed to go out and find something in nature to use the macro lens on.  Another of my favorite pastimes here at my place that borders on the forest.

These tiny mushrooms were growing all over a stump.  The sun was just coming up over the hill and this angle allowed me to get the light to almost illuminate them.  These little guys were only about one to two inches tall.

So if you ever get to thinking you're getting too old to learn new things, think again, go out and do something you've already done!

Have you done anything like this recently?  I'd love to hear from you in the comments.

Uncharted Territory

A cold front has moved down from Alaska bringing us some early frost.  I set out to take some photos one morning, although it was only 30 degrees.  A down coat and wool gloves were in order.

As is usually the case with camera in hand, I forget all time and temperature, and an hour had passed before I realized I could no longer feel my fingers!

I couldn't decide which I liked better, color, or black and white, of the frosty rhododendrons.

I spent a long while crawling around the base of old stumps shooting these little guys.  I believe they are called Cladonia carneola, a lichen, only reaching about an inch in height! 

The frost made for some delightful light play, whether I used color or black and white.

Rain returns tomorrow, so it was fun while it lasted.  Perhaps some snow pictures will be in order next month!

Blog Tune Up

The inspiration continues and the ideas are flowing!
I've been tweaking the blog today to ease navigation, organize and de-clutter!

I've added new pages:  Nature Cards and Books, and renamed others.  What used to be the Mission Statement page is now simply called About New Pioneer, and NP Styles is now About NP Styles.  

This makes it easier for newcomers and general reference.

The Nature Cards page is a big deal!  I first took the best of my recent images and created a new gallery on my artist website at Fine Art America (you can view it here ).  These images are only available as greeting cards at this time.  If you are interested in enlargements please contact me.

Then I created the new Nature Cards page on the blog (view here ) which is the full collection with several links for purchasing.

I have been with Fine Art America for almost three years and they do beautiful printing, timely shipping, and secure purchasing.

The Books page was a terrific way to get them all in one place!  I have several photo collection books available through MagCloud;  great coffee table books or gifts.  I also have my second poetry book and the Backyard Bird Sighting booklet available.  You can view that page here .

I'm gathering recent poems for a third book, coming soon, and I plan to reprint the first book from 2004 in this new format on MagCloud - so stay tuned for that!

Additionally, I have cleaned up the side bars on the blog.  The images to the left under the first house photo are all available as greeting cards and click-able to that page.

On the right side bar under recent posts I have added easy access links to the pages as well.

Other new surprises coming soon will be a Nature Kit, The Shift oracle cards, and several new ideas for quick downloadable guides!!

Whew!  What a great day for cleaning blog house.

Thanks for being here!

The Fairies Made Me Do It!

 Living closely with nature on a day to day basis one becomes accustomed to strange noises and unusual events.  I have come to accept these as the routine activities of Elementals and Fairies, hard at work (or play) in the garden and nearby forest.

Recently my hearing has become more acute, a clairaudient level - above the ordinary sounds.

The wildlife are getting tamer, and many eat out of my hand, they seem to recognize me as one of them.

I've definitely been more creative lately and so inspired that I had to make a list of all the ideas I have!

Today I feel inspired to share the message of the fairies and elementals, not so coincidentally on the same day of the Venus Transit, which will occur only once in our lifetime!

The message is not new and many of our well respected sensitives are receiving this information as well.

The earth needs healing.  It's not new news, everywhere you read or see the stories, good and bad.  I'm not going to get into that - you can find them on your own.

More importantly I think my message is about accountability, just start by taking care of your own back yard, so to speak.  Eat and grow organically, don't poison the earth or your bodies.  Grow trees, make habitat for wildlife.  Buy local, use less, enjoy nature more.  Pretty simple.

My mission has always been about simple living, getting back to what really matters in life;  quality of life, healthy life.

So the fairies want you to know they are there for you, in your own surroundings, tending to your gardens and bringing you pleasure and beauty.  Don't forget to thank them!!

Spring at Last!

I know the calendar said it was Spring, but it didn't really feel like it here in the Pacific Northwest until last weekend.  In fact, we got a three day hot spell in the upper 80's which was quite a switch from the cool, rainy days we'd been having.

I've been enjoying the birds that return to my feeders every year like the goldfinch and grosbeak.  The watering hole has been the real social hub, where many of the warblers have been seen too.

So here's a little photo tour of the yard and some of what's out now in May.

One of my favorite birds is the MacGullivray's warbler.  They return here every year to nest and raise their young.  Usually very illusive, this year he is underfoot, in the birdbath, in the yard, and along the back bank outside my window.  Today he was protecting his territory from the other MacG in the reflection of the glass.  It was quite a show and I got several photos of him up close. 

(No harm came to either party by the way.) 

Isn't he a beauty??

I rescued a hummingbird today who flew into the front porch mudroom and was confused by the large round window he couldn't escape from.  He was quite cooperative as I gently cupped my hand over him.  He actually sat on my finger as I took him outside, probably relieved to be over that adventure, but not willing to wait while I got the camera out for a photo though...

The tomato plants are in as well as the squash, spinach and lettuce, but I'm keeping it pretty low key this year and using mostly containers.

It's hard to tell what the rest of the season is going to be like with this unpredictable weather too.

I hope everyone is getting a chance to enjoy nature and wildlife where they live!

I'm working on the mudroom makeover this month - so stay tuned for the photos of that project.